Innovative Ideas Help Fight the Spread of Coronavirus (Part 1)

By: SiliconExpert on April 23rd, 2020

Innovation is not only a new idea, a creative thought, or new imagination, but also an application for better solutions, devices, or methods that meet unarticulated needs, or market demands. Crises generate a lot of energy that, if harnessed constructively, can be a great source of innovation.

The COVID-19 outbreak is not an exception. During this unprecedented event, there are a lot of innovative ideas generated in response to the situation. In the last few weeks, the international community has called on the innovation ecosystem to band together in a coordinated fight against the coronavirus pandemic. A large number of initiatives have risen to the occasion, encompassing schemes that support startups, developers that propose technical solutions, and requests for institutions to share their data with the scientific community. These projects share a single goal: to combine forces, creativity, and resources in the fight against the virus and its far-reaching effects.

COVID-19 may be having a devastating impact on our industries, social lives, and personal grooming standards, but it is also prompting an outpouring of creativity in other areas. Several inventions that first saw the light of day in the white heat of that desperate global struggle have since become essential features of our daily lives. On April 1, NASA AgencyTaps Workforce for innovative ideas for Coronavirus response efforts to help the nation with the unprecedented challenge of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Here are some examples of products which have been adopted by innovative ideas to help fight the Coronavirus pandemic:

1-    Advantech:

Smart 5G Patrol Robot Autonomous monitoring of mask-wearing and body temperature using 5G / AI technology to control COVID-19 diffusion in China. As part of efforts to curb the expansion of COVID-19, next-generation 5G patrol robots utilizing 5G and AI will be wearing masks and monitoring body temperature in public places such as airports and large shopping malls in China. The 5G patrol robot was developed by Gosuncn Robot Co., Ltd. of Guangzhou, China, and uses Advantech’s embedded computer with Edge-AI and AI technology. Idriverplus, a Chinese self-driving company that operates electric street cleaning vehicles, is also a part of the mission. The company’s flagship vehicles are being used to disinfect hospitals.

          

2-    Siemens:

Intelligent disinfection robots help fight the virus developed by Siemens and Aucma with the help of NX software and the TIA portal in just one week, from design to sampling production, intelligent disinfection robots will soon join the battle against the coronavirus and other viruses in hospitals.

3-    Arduino Corporation:

 Arduino glasses stop you from touching your face. Touching your face is a subconscious behavior that we all do, and it is also an easy way to pick up illnesses like the coronavirus and flu. However, like many infectious diseases, proper hygiene can help reduce your risk. With this in mind, Nick Bild designed a simple solution in the form of a modified pair of glasses to provide a subtle reminder not to go near your eyes, mouth, and nose. The project, which Bild calls Sentinel, consists of an ultrasonic sensor mounted on top of the bridge and an Arduino Nano along with the temple. Whenever a hand (or object) is detected close to the face, a red warning LED lights up in the wearer’s peripheral vision.

4-    Dahua Technology Co., Ltd:

Thermal Cameras to Monitor temperature of the passengers. Since sending its first batch of thermal cameras to the hardest-hit area Wuhan on January 24th, Dahua thermal solution has been deployed in thousands of sites in China, including transportation hubs, commercial complexes, banks, and other places, and some are on the way to multiple countries in Asia.

5-    Esri ArcGIS:

Tracking the coronavirus via an Esri ArcGIS mapThe Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University is tracking the coronavirus, COVID-19, via an Esri ArcGIS map. The map is updated in almost real-time, and it includes a zoomable map identifying confirmed cases of the virus throughout the world. It also includes numerical data on how many cases have been confirmed in each country, as well as deaths and recoveries.

6-    Kaspersky Lab:

Kaspersky products detect corona virus-related malicious filesKaspersky’s technologies have found malicious pdf, mp4, and Docx files disguised as documents relating to the newly discovered Coronavirus. The file names imply that they include virus protection instructions, current threat developments, and even virus detection techniques. Kaspersky products detect corona virus-related malicious files with the following detection names: Worm.VBS.Dinihou.r, Worm.Python.Agent.c, UDS: DangerousObject.Multi.Generic, Trojan.WinLNK.Agent.gg, Trojan.WinLNK.Agent.ew, HEUR: Trojan.WinLNK.Agent.gen, HEUR: Trojan.PDF.Badur.b

7-    Innolux Corporation:  

One-stop Job ApplicationInnolux Releases Taiwan’s first One-stop Job Application “Line@mobile recruitment 2.0 platform” Mobile application and video interview make recruitment non-stop amid the coronavirus outbreak.

8-     Bluedot:

BlueDot has made two solutions that help the user to predict the nearest cases of COVID-19.

  • BlueDot Insights: BlueDo Insights sends you relevant and near real-time alerts that quantify your risk of exposure to infectious diseases

                  

  • BlueDot Explorer: BlueDot Explorer allows you to perform advanced and higher quality risk assessments in less time by integrating 100+ diverse datasets including global air travel and near peak-time disease surveillance that has been curated, cleaned, and combined for you.

                

9-    Terra Drone:  

Terr Drone helps China fight coronavirus with delivery drones. At 9 a.m. on Feb. 6, a medical delivery drone flew from the People’s Hospital of Xinchang County to the disease control center of Xinchang County, marking the launch of the first urban-air transportation channel to help to fight the novel coronavirus (COVID-19 ), a global health emergency.

10-     Bosch:

Bosch develops rapid tests for COVID-19 for Combating the Coronavirus pandemicBosch’s new, fully automated rapid test for COVID-19 can help medical facilities such as doctors’ offices, hospitals, laboratories, and health centers make fast diagnoses. The rapid molecular diagnostic test runs on the Vivalytic analysis device from Bosch Healthcare Solutions.

11-     OURA:

Smart Oura Rings help detect early COVID-19 symptoms. Temperature data from the Oura Ring, which is not available on most wearables, is of particular interest to the researchers at UCSF… to help identify patterns of onset, progression, and recovery for COVID-19.

 

12-     Kinsahealth:

Smart Thermometers to help detect of COVID-19 faster than CDCKinsa’s internet-connected smart thermometer, paired to a mobile app, aggregates consumers’ temperature and symptoms data. This real-time data enables Kinsa to track where in the U.S. the illnesses start so that health resources can be better allocated.

 

Learn more about how SiliconExpert Geo Risk Analytics can help innovative ideas at www.siliconexpert.com/supply-chain

April 23, 2020, by Ahmed Sabry

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